Series: The
Stained Glass Series
October 9, 2011
Dear friends in Christ.
I don’t know about you, but I have to confess that I
was a little surprised when I realized that we are on the 2nd to last window in
our Stained Glass Window Series. Though
it was back on June 19th when we began this series, it seems like it was just
yesterday that we were talking about creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, David and
Goliath, and even Daniel. But now,
suddenly, we are taking a look at the window designed to remind us of how the
Word of the Lord grew as the disciples carried it with them as they traveled to
the ends of the earth! It was the very
message of the three previous windows that they carried with them wherever they
went; the message of Jesus Christ who had died on the cross to pay for the sins
of the world; the message of Jesus Christ, who though he had died was raised to
life for our justification—declaring us not guilty before our Father in heaven;
the message of Jesus Christ who had ascended to his Father’s side in heaven and
who would one day return again. This was
the message that they carried with them wherever they went, and now, as we turn
our attention to our second last window, we cannot help but marvel at how the
word of the Lord grew and how it continues to grow according to the plan our
Savior laid down in our lesson today in Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)
Now, you might remember hearing these same words
last week as Acts 1:8 was part of the account of Jesus’ Ascension. You might remember how Jesus was standing
with his disciples on the Mount of Olives giving them his last instructions
before he would ascend to his Father’s throne in heaven. As he speaks with them one last time, in one
short sentence Jesus reiterates the very truth he had spent the last three
years teaching them. In one short
sentence he lays out the plan of action for which he had prepared them. Just moments before they would see Jesus
return to his Father, he reminds them of the game plan that they would be
following, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)
Well, that very mission which Jesus bestowed upon
them, was the very mission they took up only 10 days later, on the day of
Pentecost. For on that day, when the
Lord sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples, not only did he establish the first
Christian Church among his people, Israel, he also laid the foundation for the
spreading of the gospel to the ends of the earth. On that day, when the Lord sent the Holy
Spirit, he gathered a huge crowd of Israelites with the sound of a rushing
wind. He marked his disciples with a
tongue of flame on their heads, and he allowed them to speak in all sorts of
different languages as Luke records for us later on in chapter 2: “How is it that each of us hears them in his
own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the
parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to
Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our
own tongues!”(Acts 2:8–11, NIV84)
Though the Apostles were mocked for having too much
wine, it was Peter who stood up in front of the whole crowd and preached to
them God’s harshest law and God’s sweetest gospel. He condemned the people of Israel for their
rejection of Jesus as their Savior and how they acted as accomplices in his
death. He cut them to the heart with the
sharp scalpel of God’s Law in preparation for the healing salve of the
gospel—the message of the salvation that was theirs through faith in that same
Jesus whom God had raised from the dead.
Peter preached that message while the other disciples undoubtedly
translated, and the Word of the Lord grew as about 3,000 were added to their
number that day! Then, from that time on
Luke tells us, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and
many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the
believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their
possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and
enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42–47, NIV84)
Thus, what the Lord Jesus had told them on the Mount
of Olives had come to pass. They were,
indeed, his witnesses in Jerusalem. So
many were added to their numbers in fact, that the apostles appointed 7 men to
help with the daily distribution of food; two of these men were Stephen and
Philip. Stephen, we remember, was the
one who was stoned to death because the Sanhedrin didn’t like what he had to
say. He was the one for whose stoning
Saul was present—a young man watching over the cloaks of those who were
murdering Stephen. Saul was there giving
approval to Stephen’s death, and Saul was the one who began the persecution,
going from town to town, arresting Christians, and throwing them in
prison. Thus, the Christians did the
only sane thing they could. They ran for
it. They ran for it and they took the
Gospel with them, preaching it wherever they went!
Though a great persecution had broken out against
the Christians in Jerusalem, the Word of the Lord continued to grow! Just as the Lord had planted his church in
the midst of the Jewish stronghold of Jerusalem, he continued to spread the
message of salvation through the people who took the gospel with them as they
scattered into Judea and Samaria. Next
thing we know, Philip, (not the Apostle but the helper the Apostles had chosen
along with Stephen) he was traveling in Samaria and preaching the gospel
wherever he went. He was the one whom
the Lord sent down toward Gaza to meet an Ethiopian Eunuch on his way home
after spending time in Jerusalem. He is
the one whom the Spirit of the Lord took from that road to Azotus where he
preached the Word until he reached Caesarea.
Because of this, the Apostles began to leave Jerusalem and go out as the
Lord’s witnesses in Judea and Samaria.
Because of the work that the Lord sent Philip to do in Samaria, Peter
and John traveled into the same region to proclaim the Word and the Word of the
Lord continued to grow. It continued to
grow not only among the Jews who had been scattered, but it began to grow among
the Gentiles as well as the Lord sent Peter to Caesarea to the house of a man
named Cornelius (Acts 10). Now, suddenly
the disciples begin to understand the Lord’s plan to spread his message to the
ends of the earth among the Jews and the Gentiles. Thus the Word of the Lord continued to grow
and spread just as Jesus had told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts
1:8, NIV84)
For the disciples, Jesus plan of action really did
happen in a linear way. They pretty much
followed his pattern: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then the rest of the
World. However, the Gospel did not
follow this same pattern! When Peter
stood up on the day of Pentecost there were Israelites from every nation under
the face of the earth. “Parthians, Medes
and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors
from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs”(Acts
2:9–11, NIV84) They were there, Jews
from all these different nations. They
were there and they heard Peter proclaim to them the message of salvation that
was theirs through faith in Jesus Christ their Savior. In that moment the message of salvation went
global. Though they weren’t able to
record Pete’s message with their smart phones and immediately post it and their
reactions to it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking
sites, in that moment the message of salvation had already reached the ends of
the earth. The people who had gathered
there that day, who had heard what Peter had said, now took that message of
salvation with them as they went back to their home countries. In this way the Word of the Lord grew as they
simply told others about what they had seen and heard. As they traveled home, they took the gospel
message with them and the prepared the way for the Apostles to come to them
with the gospel!
All by the Lord’s design! All according to the Lord’s plan! The Apostles were indeed Jesus witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Though we only know for sure where Paul and
some of the other Apostles traveled, when we take a look at what some of the
traditions tell us, it gives us a real sense of how they were the Lord’s
witnesses to the ends of the earth. Now,
what I am about to share with you comes out of traditions and in some cases is
not much better than conjecture or best guesses. Take Paul for example. We know where he went on his missionary
journeys. We know he wanted to go to
Spain, and we assume he made it to Spain but we don’t know for sure. In fact there is a tradition that Paul not
only made it to Spain but even traveled into the British Isles. Whether that is true or not, I cannot say,
but we do know how Paul was a very well traveled missionary. Take a look at Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother. Some traditions say he worked
in Scythia—a region north of the Black Sea in modern day Russia. However there is also a tradition that Andrew
worked in Achaia in Greece. Nathanial,
also known as Bartholomew, and Thomas are both thought to have worked in
Phrygia in modern day Turkey, as well as in India. James, Son of Alphaeus, is most often
associated with Egypt. Though it is very
difficult to discern exactly what is truth in these traditions, they do show
how the disciples were the fulfillment of Jesus words in our lesson today, “You
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)
They were our Savior’s witnesses who spread the
message of salvation wherever they went.
They were the Savior’s witnesses through whom he caused his Word to
grow. Though we cannot prove exactly
where most of the Apostles went, we can see the results of their work as the
Word of the Lord continued to grow throughout the Roman Empire even during
times of persecutions. Because of their
efforts and the blessings of the Lord that message of salvation spread in to
countries like England and France, Germany and Russia, Ireland and
Scandinavia. Because the Word of the
Lord grew and expanded as it did, those who came to this country brought the
word with them and it continued to grow and spread. Now, today, we are the Savior’s witnesses who
are bringing the gospel message back to the countries where it once was. We are now the Lord’s servants who are
continuing to spread that message of salvation to the ends of the earth and
beyond.
What a marvelous thing it is to see just how the
Word of the Lord has continued to grow since the day of Pentecost nearly 2000
years ago. Though there is so much more
history that we could look at, and though there are so many examples of how the
Word of the Lord had grown and traveled around the world again and again. We have seen more than enough to make us
marvel at how the Lord has caused his Word to grow. He has preserved it from generation to
generation. He has caused the message of
Christ crucified, Christ risen and Christ ascended to be continually preached
for the blessing of his people
everywhere. What an amazing
blessing the Lord has given us to be able to look back at how his word has
spread, to be able to see how he has continued to spread his word today, and to
look forward into the future and wonder how he will continue to cause his Word
to grow among the nations.
Amen.
Pastor
David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
